


The Truth About Santa

by bookworm2017



Category: Sanders Sides
Genre: Arguing, Kissing, M/M, Swearing, kid thomas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 12:51:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13008165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm2017/pseuds/bookworm2017
Summary: Prompt: Logan wants to tell kid!Thomas that Santa isn't real but Patton forbids it





	The Truth About Santa

**Author's Note:**

> This got waaayyyy longer than it was supposed to be but you know what? It works. lol hope you guys enjoy it.

“Up on the rooftop reindeer pause, out jumps good ol’ Santa Clause!” Thomas sang, skipping around the house as he handed decorations to his parents. 

Patton smiled down at his son as he accepted a stocking. “I see someone is ready for his visit from Santa!” 

Thomas bounced on the balls of his feet. “Yeah! I’ve already started writing my letter to him! Roman’s helping me!” 

Chuckling, Patton ruffles Thomas’s hair. “Let me know when you’re finished so we can mail it okay kiddo?” 

“Okay!” 

Meanwhile Logan stood to the side, decorating the tree and listening in on the conversation. He frowned at his husband, and once Thomas was shuffling through boxes again, Logan pulled Patton aside. “I think it’s time, Pat.” 

Patton gave him a confused look. “Time to do what Lo? Put the star on the tree?” he asks, his confusion turning into excitement. 

Logan sighs and shakes his head. “No, I mean to have the talk with Thomas. About Santa.” 

Understanding dawned in Patton’s eyes. “What? No!” 

“Patton he’s seven. He should be told,” Logan says. “He’s far too old to believe in such fairytales.” 

Patton looked outright offended by that, but before he could say anything, Thomas bounded over to them with garland wrapped around his shoulders. “What are you guys talking about?” he asks. 

Logan glances at Patton. “Actually, we were just talking about discussing with you—”

“What kind of cookies we should make this year!” Patton interrupts. “After all we can’t forget Santa’s milk and cookies.” 

Thomas’s eyes lit up. “Ohh do you think I can help you make them this year Dad? I want Santa to know that I made them especially for him!” 

Chuckling, Patton nods. “We’ll do whatever you want kiddo! I’ll show you all of the best ways to make truly amazing cookies.” He put his arm around Thomas’s shoulders to lead him over to the stair case where the garland would be wrapped around, throwing a small glare at Logan as he did so. 

 

After the house was decorated and Thomas was busy in his room planning his letter to Santa, Logan found Patton in the kitchen, getting ready to start dinner. “I really think we should talk about this?” 

“What? Ruining out son’s hopes and dreams?” Patton asks. 

Logan sighs. “Honestly, sometimes you’re as dramatic as Roman.” 

Patton sets down his knife and turns to Logan. “It’s about his childhood, Lo. Thomas will find out in his own time.” 

“Would you rather he find out by his friends? It would just be better if he heard it from us,” Logan says. 

“and tell him that we’ve been lying to him for years?” Patton asks. His shoulders slump and he looks down at the ground. “I just don’t want to break his heart.” 

At Patton’s soft and defeated voice, Logan couldn’t help but walk over to him and take him in his arms. “Growing up hurts sometimes,” Logan says. 

Patton’s arms come around Logan. “I know.” 

They stand there for a moment before Patton pulls away. “How bout we tell him next year?” 

Logan sighs, rolling his eyes. “We can’t keep putting it off Patton.” 

“I know,” Patton whines, “but let him have this one last year of being a kid okay?” 

“He’ll still be a kid, Pat,” Logan says, “he’ll just be a more informed child. I mean, even Joan knows!” 

“That’s because Roman and Virgil suck at hiding presents and Joan is too curious for their own good,” Patton says. “I’ll also have you know that they have not said a word to Thomas about it.” 

“Only because you and Roman told them not to!” Logan says. 

“What are you two bickering about this time?” Roman asks, waltzing into the kitchen. 

Both men jump. “Jeeze Roman, don’t you knock anymore?” Logan asks. 

“I did, but no one answered,” Roman says with a shrug, walking over to Patton’s cutting board and picking up a piece of potato and popping it into his mouth. “I mean, if you really want to keep people from walking into your house, you should really lock the door.” 

Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. “What are you doing here Roman?” 

“I promised Thomas I’d help him write his letter to Santa,” Roman says. 

“You know just because your own child has grown up doesn’t mean that you can keep our child from doing the same,” Logan snapped. 

Both Patton and Roman froze. “Lo,” Patton says softly, “Roman’s just trying to help Thomas.” 

“What’s gotten his knickers in a twist?” Roman mutters. 

“Nothing just,” Logan shakes his head. “I’m going to lie down for a while. Roman it was nice seeing you.” he turns and walks upstairs. 

 

Once Logan was gone, Roman looked over at Patton, who sighs. “What’s the problem with Specs over there?” 

Patton goes back to chopping, though he had a scowl on his face. “He wants to tell Thomas about Santa.” 

Roman gasps. “He wouldn’t dare!” 

“I really don’t see what the harm is in believing in him,” Patton says. 

Roman leans against the counter. “Well, Logan has always been the most logical one out of all of us. He always has had more sense. I guess believing in Santa doesn’t make sense to him.” 

Patton sets down his knife and puts his head in his hands. “I can’t believe we’re arguing about this.” 

Roman pat his friend’s shoulder. “Give him time to cool down, maybe talk to him again tonight, okay?” 

Patton nods, lifting his head and shooting a small smile towards Roman. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner by the way. And have Virgil and Joan stop by. Thomas would love to see them both.”

Roman takes another piece of potato. “If it means your cooking, then we’ll all gladly stay.” 

 

Logan walked past Thomas’s room to go to his own, but paused when he overheard his son talking to himself. 

“Dear Santa. I think I’ve been a really good boy this year. Dad and Papa say I have anyway. This year what I want more than anything else is for us to take the family vacation Dad is always talking about. With Uncles Roman and Virgil too! Oh and I can’t forget Joan, they’d love Disney World.” Thomas stopped in his pacing, then shook his head. “No, that makes me sound too excited. Uncle Roman should know what to do…” Thomas looks up then and see Logan. Immediately his cheeks go pink. “Hi Papa.” 

Logan can’t help bit smile. “Composing your letter already I see.” 

Thomas’s cheeks turn an even darker shade of red. “Yeah,” he says bashfully. He glances up at Logan from behind his bangs. “It has to be perfect for Santa.”   
Logan bites his lip. Honestly, he could not stand the fact that his son believed in some fictional man, so much so that he felt the need to write to him every year. “Thomas, I think it’s about time you know that—”

“Roman is in the house!” Roman says suddenly, covering Logan’s mouth with his hand. 

“Uncle Roman!” Thomas exclaims, running over to him. Roman removes his hand in order to bend down to hug Thomas. “Are Uncle Virgil and Joan here too?”   
“Not yet little prince,” Roman says with a chuckle. “They’ll be here for dinner, though.” 

Thomas bounced excitedly at that. “Okay! Come on, we’ve got a letter to write! I’ve already got some ideas but I can’t get the wording right…” Thomas trailed off as he walked back over to his desk. 

Roman stood and turned to Logan. “If you break his spirits without at least consulting Patton first, he will never forgive you,” Roman mutters. 

Logan sighs, crossing his arms. “I hate it when you’re right,” he mutters back. Then he raises his voice slightly to address Thomas. “I’m going to lie down before dinner. You two have fun.” 

Thomas looks over at him. “Are you alright Papa?” 

Logan couldn’t help the soft smile on his lips. “Yes, I’m quite fine. I’ve just got a bit of a headache is all. Nothing a little rest won’t fix.” 

Thomas was still frowning though. He walked back over to Logan and took his hand, tugging him down. Logan obediently kneeled and Thomas kissed his forehead. “There,” his son says proudly, “that should do it.” He sounded, for all the world, like a doctor. 

“Thank you, Thomas,” Logan says, pulling his son into a hug. Thomas squeezes him tightly, making Logan hold him closer. 

“Oh woe is me!” Roman exclaims. “My heart! It cannot stand this truly adorable display of father and son affections!” 

Thomas pulled away, giggling, while Logan just rolled his eyes. “You’re funny Uncle Roman,” Thomas says. 

Roman gives a small bow. “I do try my best.” 

Shaking his head, Logan stands, ruffling Thomas’s hair. “Come get me when diner is ready okay?” 

“Got it!” Thomas says before turning his full attention to Roman. Logan smiled at the two of them before turning and heading to his room. 

 

“So kiddo how did the letter writing go?” Patton asks later at dinner.

Thomas’s face lights up. “Great! Uncle Roman had a lot of good ideas.” 

“It is my specialty,” Roman says. 

“Ugh don’t go around saying that, kid, he’ll just get a bigger ego than he already has,” Virgil says. 

Thomas and Joan giggle at that while Roman gave his husband an offended look. “I’ll have you know that my ideas are always grand and amazing.” 

“Even though they don’t work out half the time,” Logan mutters. 

“What was that?” Roman asks. 

“Here we go,” Joan mutters to Thomas, who hides his giggle behind his water glass. They’d both become accustomed to the playful bickering their parents always did, which came out of years and years of a close friendship. They found it quite entertaining. 

“I’m just saying that your ideas have tended to lend to more trouble that actual solutions,” Logan says. 

“You weren’t saying that when my ideas saved your butt at the science fair.” 

“Roman that was twelve years ago.” 

“And you still consider it one of your biggest accomplishments.” 

Patton opens his mouth to try and interject, but Virgil stopped him. “No, no, this is more entertaining than anything on TV right now,” he says, leaning back and sipping his wine. 

“Do we really want them arguing in front of the children?” Patton asks. 

“They’re enjoying it too,” Virgil points out, looking over at the two kids who were clearly trying to stifle their laughter. 

Patton sighs and stands up, walking back to the kitchen, taking his plate with him. His sudden movement had put a stop to the argument, everyone staring after him. 

“Is Dad okay?” Thomas asks Logan, but Logan barely heard him. He was too busy staring at Patton’s empty chair, a distressed look in his eyes. 

Roman cleared his throat. “Thomas, Joan, why don’t you two go upstairs and play for a while?” 

“But Dad’s okay, right?” Thomas asks. 

At Thomas’s very worried tone, Logan blinked and looked over at him. “Everything will be fine, Thomas. We all get a little grumpy every now and again. I promise it’s nothing you caused.” 

Thomas frowns, but Joan nudges him. “Let’s go play Mario.” 

“Okay,” Thomas says, not looking any less worried. Once the boys were gone, Logan slumped in his chair for a moment before taking a deep breath and getting up to follow Patton into the kitchen. 

This left Roman and Virgil staring wide eyed at each other. “What the hell just happened?” Virgil asked. 

 

“Pat?” Logan asks, poking his head into the kitchen. Patton was standing by the sink, staring out of the window over it. He had his arms wrapped around himself, a very clear sign that he was trying to keep himself together. Logan lets out a breath. “Pat, I’m sorry. I should know better than to argue with Roman like that in front of the children.” 

Patton shakes his head. “It’s not that Lo. I guess…I’m just not in a good mood.” 

“is it because of the Santa thing?” Logan asks, slowly moving towards his husband. 

Patton shrugs. “Maybe.” 

Carefully, Logan reaches out and puts his hand on Patton’s lower back. When the other doesn’t pull away, Logan pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around Patton’s waist. “If it means that much to you then we can wait another year,” Logan mutters. 

“You’re right, though,” Patton says. “He’s getting older and…and…” Patton’s voice broke a little. 

“Shhh,” Logan says, holding Patton even closer. After a moment, Patton drops his arms and wraps them around Logan, burying his face in the crook of Logan’s neck. 

“Well they’re hugging so that’s a good sign,” Virgil’s voice comes from the doorway. 

The two break apart, only enough to look up and see their friends walking into the kitchen. “Here,” Virgil says, handing both of them a wine glass. “Thought you might want these.” 

“Thanks Virgil,” Logan says, being forced to let go of Patton to take the drinks, as judging from the hold Patton had on him, his husband wasn’t letting him go any time soon. 

“So Roman tells me you want to break the news to Thomas about Santa huh?” Virgil says, jumping up onto the counter and taking a sip of his wine. 

“We’re…talking about it,” Patton says, taking the wine glass from Logan yet keeping Logan tucked tightly against him. 

“I mean, I know I don’t get a say in how you raise your kid,” Virgil says, “but I say let him figure it out on his own. Joan did, and they’re fine.” 

“Though to be fair,” Roman says, “it was kind of our own fault.”

Virgil rolls his eyes. “I forgot one package…” 

Patton chuckles at their friends. “I just don’t want it to hurt him.” 

“That’s what growing up is though,” Virgil says. “Figuring out the world isn’t as fair as…you know what I’ll stop talking now.” He shuts up from twin glares from Roman and Logan, and a sad, defeated look from Patton. 

“You know, maybe we should go. It’s getting late and the kids have school tomorrow,” Roman says. 

“Good idea,” Virgil says, gulping the rest of his wine and leaving the glass on the counter where he was sitting. “Thanks for diner Pat, it was great.” 

Once Virgil and Roman left the kitchen to get Joan, Logan turned to Patton. “See them off then head to bed, okay? I’ve got the dishes.” 

“Are you sure?” Patton asks, looking at the mound.

Logan smiled. “Yes, now go. I’ll be up soon.” 

Patton’s shoulders slump a little and he leans in to give Logan a long, sweet kiss. “Hurry okay?” Patton asks. 

“I will,” Logan promises, nudging Patton towards the kitchen door. 

 

Once their guests were gone and Thomas was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, Patton retreated to his room. He couldn’t help the sick feeling in his stomach from the whole day. Thomas didn’t even look at him when Patton went to check up on him. What happened at dinner must have really hit hard with him. It was rare that Patton was ever upset or angry (at least in front of Thomas). 

He felt so bad about it. And all because of some stupid disagreement. 

Eventually, Logan walked in and took one look of Patton lying on the bed before he was right next to him, wrapping Patton up in his arms. 

“I don’t want him to grow up,” Patton says, his voice shaking with tears. “I want him to stay my little boy forever.” 

Logan held onto Patton tightly, rubbing soothing circles on his back. “I know,” Logan mutters. “Me too.” 

For a while, the two of them just lie there. Even after Patton’s tears stopped, they stayed like that, just enjoying the feeling of each other. 

“Think about how nice it’ll be when we don’t have to watch out for him all the time,” Logan mutters. 

Patton laughs a little at that, pulling away so he could look Logan in the eye. “But that’s our job!” he exclaims, wiping away the tear streaks. 

“Yes but watching out for a teenager or even adult is far less work than a child,” Logan says. “We won’t have to monitor what he does every single day.”

Patton chuckles and rolls his eyes. “I love you.” 

Logan smiles at the brightness that was returning to Patton’s eyes. “I love you too.” He pulls Patton in for a deep kiss which neither wanted to pull away from. At least until there was a small knock on their door. 

“Dad? Papa?” 

The two pull away, sitting up to look at the door. “Yes Thomas? Come in,” Logan calls. 

The door opens to a shy Thomas, his head ducked as if he were afraid. He moved into the room just barely, his hands clasped behind his back. He was dressed in his Disney pajamas and he kept rocking back and forth on his feet. 

“Are you mad at me?” 

Patton and Logan exchange a bewildered glance before they both remembered what had happened at dinner. 

“Oh honey, no, no, no,” Patton says. “Come here.” He pats the bed, and Logan scoots over as Thomas runs over to the bed and throws himself on top of it, quickly climbing into his spot between his parents. They wrap their arms around him, snuggling close to him. “We could never be mad at our little bee,” Patton says, nuzzling into Thomas’s hair. 

“But you were mad at diner,” Thomas says. 

“That had nothing to do with you kiddo,” Patton says. “Or Papa for that matter.” Patton glances up at Logan, who smiled softly at him. “Sometimes, people just aren’t happy, and that’s okay. We can’t all be happy all the time.” he brushes Thomas’s hair out of his face. “I’m sorry I worried you.” 

Thomas still didn’t look comforted though. “Why were you fighting before dinner?” 

Patton and Logan exchange a glance. They hadn’t known Thomas had heard that. 

“Were you angry that I asked Roman to help with my letter to Santa and not you?” Thomas asks, looking back and forth between them. 

“No, honey,” Logan says. “In fact, Roman is probably the best choice to have help you when it comes to creative writing.” 

Thomas chuckled at that, but it was half-hearted. Clearly something was still bothering him. 

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” Patton asks gently. 

Thomas shifts around, fidgeting with the thing he’d brought—a book—and avoiding their eyes. “It’s just…at school Maria Jones said that her parents fought a lot before they left each other. She says she doesn’t even see her dad anymore. That’s not going to happen to us, is it?” 

For a moment, Patton and Logan were too shocked to think up of a response to that. 

“Wha…Thomas…No!” Patton exclaims. “Honey no no no no no.” 

“Thomas, no matter how much the two of us might disagree with each other, we still love each other very much,” Logan explains gently, running his hands through Thomas’s hair. 

“And we still love you,” Patton adds. 

“Yes,” Logan agrees. “You can’t get rid of either one of us that easily.” 

Thomas sniffles, which makes Patton pull him into his lap and hold his son even tighter. “Sometimes people just aren’t meant for each other,” he says, rocking Thomas back and forth, “and they don’t realize it until years after they’ve gotten married and had a kid. Or they were meant for each other for a certain point in their lives but not at another. Your Papa is meant for me, kiddo. Through better and worse.” 

Logan scooted closer to them then, wrapping his arms around both his husband and his son. Thomas sniffles, burying his face in Patton’s chest. “You promise?” he asks. 

“Promise,” Patton and Logan say together. 

They sit there in silence for a while, the three of them together as a family. Eventually, though, Patton pulls away and smiles down at Thomas. “So,” he says, “what did you ask Santa for Christmas?” 

Thomas grinned. “You can’t know that yet!” 

“Why not?” Logan asks. 

“Because it has to get to Santa first!” Thomas says, as if this should be obvious. 

“Of course,” Patton says, but there was a small frown on his face. Usually, Roman was a good source to figure out what Thomas really wanted for Christmas, but most of the time it was something Thomas had been begging for for months. He didn’t understand why Thomas didn’t just tell them. 

Patton glances at Logan, who shrugs. Patton closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Hey Thomas? Papa and I have to tell you something.” 

Logan raises his eyebrows at that. Was Patton really…

“it’s about Santa,” Patton says. “See…the thing is…he’snotreal.” 

Thomas looked up at Patton for a moment, his head cocked to the side. “Of course he’s real,” Thomas says. 

Logan opens his mouth to start speaking, but Thomas kept going. “You guys are Santa, right?” 

Well…that wasn’t what they expected. 

“What?” Patton asks. 

“You guys are Santa,” Thomas says, looking as confused as they felt. “I mean, it makes sense. You know when I’m asleep and when I’m awake. You know when I’m bad or good.” Thomas shrugs. 

Patton felt immense relief over the fact that all the time, they hadn’t actually ever lied to Thomas and Logan felt pride at the fact that Thomas had come to this conclusion all his own. Well, probably with some help from Joan, no doubt. 

“R-Right,” Patton says with a small smile. “Of course, I’m just being silly.” 

Thomas smiles and relaxes. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why do you write the letters?” Logan asks. 

“Because at the mall, if you write a letter to Santa and send it from there, they help a kid who can’t have a good Christmas,” Thomas says, again as if this should be common knowledge. “Everyone should be able to have a good Christmas. It’s, like, law. Also, Uncle Roman likes it when I ask him to help me.” 

Patton let out a squeal and hugged Thomas close to him. “You are such and angel!” 

Thomas giggled and struggled to get away. “Daaaaddddd!” he whines, scrambling away. 

“No, come here, let me love you!” Patton exclaims, reaching for Thomas again. 

Giggling, Thomas scrambles away again to hide behind Logan. “Papa protect me!” 

Logan smirked and twisted behind him, scooping Thomas into his arms and swinging him around. Then both him and Patton started tickling him. Thomas giggled and scrambled to get out of their grip, but they wouldn’t let him. Eventually the tickling gave way to kisses being peppered on Thomas’s face. When they finally pulled away, Thomas crossed his arms and tried to pout but his lips kept quirking. “You two are so meeaannnn.” 

“Uh-huh we’re the worst,” Logan says with a chuckle. He glances at Patton, who was grinning, and noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was the book Thomas had brought with him. “Harry Potter?” Logan asks, reaching over to pick up the book. 

“Oh yeah!” Thomas exclaims, pushing himself into a sitting position. “I was…hoping we could read together.” He blushes, embarrassed about it. “Joan said that Uncles Roman and Virgil read it with them every night and it sounded cool. I know I can read on my own now but…” 

“Of course we can kiddo,” Patton says, settling back against his pillows and draping his arm around Thomas’s shoulders.

“Alright, we’ll read one chapter but then it’s bed time okay?” Logan asks. “We’ve all had a pretty eventful night.” 

Delight fills Thomas’s eyes. “Okay!” he settles in as well and Logan follows suit, opening the book to the first page. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much…”


End file.
